by David P. Greisman
After expensive investments, extensive planning and multiple delays, Stephen Duval’s Superfighter heavyweight tournament will either end up a million dollar baby or a sagging, stinking diaper.
It’s not a new idea – Tony Tubbs won the “People’s Choice One-Night Heavyweight Tournament” in 1993 and Maurice Harris triumphed in Cedric Kushner’s 2002 “Fistful of Dollars” – but Duval nevertheless insists that his event will be revolutionary.
Unlike the aforementioned 1993 and 2002 tournaments – which doled out prizes of and $170,000 and $100,000, respectively – Duval appears to have solid financial backing, as the tourney’s Web site lists names and companies whose support helped hire heavyweight luminaries George Foreman and Lennox Lewis for praise and publicity.
The grand prize of $5 million has already drawn in better contestants than the other tournaments, what with an initially announced field of O’Neil Bell, Calvin Brock, Chris Byrd, Tye Fields, Juan Carlos Gomez, Oliver McCall, Jameel McCline and Samuel Peter.
Of those eight – nine when including alternate Sinan Samil Sam – only Fields is of questionable capability, an extremely tall heavyweight who built a record of 37-1 on lesser opponents but was knocked out in the first round by future tomato can Jeff Ford back in 2001.
Every revolution has its stumbling points.
Shortly after the officially announcement that Superfighter was finally set for Dec. 1 (Dec. 2 for those present at the arena in Melbourne, Australia), Peter’s camp sent out a press release stating their fighter was not participating due to an upcoming heavyweight elimination rematch with James Toney.
Almost simultaneously, Brock was attributed as removing himself from the competition, noting his November bout with heavyweight titlist Wladimir Klitschko – a match scheduled only three weeks before the Superfighter tournament. The subsequent (and understandable) conniption from Brock – asserting that he never said what was quoted and that Superfighter could still be in his sights – was nonetheless moot unless Brock resolves the issue with promoter Main Events.
That leaves Bell, Byrd, Fields, Gomez, McCall, McCline and Sam, good names but hardly a murderer’s row whose inclusion promises revolution or even excitement. A rundown of their strengths and shortcomings:
Bell and Gomez are, respectively, current and former cruiserweight champions stepping up from their best division, something Gomez failed at in recent years.
McCall is ancient at 41, but he has retained heavy hands and enough favor in the business to be ranked by the WBC.
Byrd is an undersized former heavyweight titlist who lacks power and recently considered dropping down to cruiserweight.
Sam is a heavyweight whose mediocrity somehow propels him up the rankings until he is eventually defeated.
McCline is a six-foot-six heavyweight whose size has never translated into enough power to win against today’s top contenders.
Oh, and Fields is essentially a modern-day Primo Carnera, surpassing Nicolay Valuev in that dubious distinction.
None of this may matter much under the rules and format of the tournament. Each bout contains four three-minute rounds scored openly with three judges tallying points for clean hits, power punches and knockdowns, while another judge keeps an eye on which fighter is more aggressive. The thought is that fighters will come out with violent intentions, attempting to blast through their human obstacles so as to take themselves into the next round where they will be one step closer to a payday larger than any has received before.
It’s a nice dream.
With their size disadvantages, Bell, Byrd and Gomez would typically need to rely on smart boxing to win under normal rules. Trading blows may do little but get them knocked out, similar to what happened to Byrd against Wladimir Klitschko earlier this year.
If the Superfighters stick to the plan of brawling instead of boxing, then the victor will need power and durability, traits that make McCall a dark horse to take home the $5 million.
And that’s if everyone shows up and the winner even gets paid the promised prize. The 1993 tournament had five withdrawals, but Superfighter will pay some of the participants an appearance fee in the mid-six figures, according to scribe Dan Rafael. With a $6.5 million prize pool plus the additional appearance fees, advertising and production costs, Duval and his cohorts must recoup their investments via pay-per-view and ticket sales.
Given the current line-up, Superfighter desperately needs to reach the demographic of obsessive fight fans with too much money on their hands.
After all, the first three weeks in November contain the Carlos Baldomir-Floyd Mayweather, Evander Holyfield-Fres Oquendo and Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales III pay-per-views. Even if a buyer skips Holyfield-Oquendo, it’s hard to convince someone who recently spent $100 to drop another $50 on an exhibition with curiosity – not revolution – as a more feasible main selling point.
After expensive investments, extensive planning and multiple delays, Superfighter is finally approaching – although the countdown clock on the official Web site is extremely incorrect. As has been par with past attempts at heavyweight rejuvenation, Superfighter will either strike gold or strike out.
The 10 Count
1. The fallout from Diego Corrales’ failure to make the lightweight limit for his rubber match with Joel Casamayor continues. Last week the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board announced the institution of a weigh-in policy similar to that required by the World Boxing Council, according to a statement from Commissioner Larry Hazzard.
The policy, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2007, calls for all contestants in championship bouts to also step upon the scales both 30 days and seven days prior to their fights. But unlike the WBC, whose rule has no teeth because the interval weigh-ins tend to be unsupervised, boxers fighting for championships in New Jersey must have their poundage checked at the nearest recognized athletic commission.
As with the WBC’s policy, fighters must be no more than 10 percent over their contracted weight at the 30-day weigh-in, and at no more than five percent of the contracted weight at the seven-day weigh-in. While the policies of both the WBC and the NJSAC appear to look out for the health of fighters who otherwise, in Hazzard’s words, “are in the habit of dieting and using steam rooms, saunas and associated tactics in the week prior to the fight in order to make weight,” the percentages are still too high and will change too little.
A lightweight fighter who is either fighting for a championship in New Jersey or contending for a WBC belt would merely be required to be at 149 pounds one month prior to their bout and at 142 with one week to go. This allows the fighter to attempt to lose 14 pounds in 30 days and, making even less sense, seven pounds in seven days. A boxer like Diego Corrales who has already drained himself to make the seven-day limit of 142 pounds will still need to starve and dehydrate himself to make 135, and that’s a reality that will continue to exist until policies are enacted that are stricter and more protective of fighters’ health.
2. But at least Erik Morales appears to be dropping weight more effectively and healthily than in past fights. Morales, whose trilogy with Manny Pacquiao will have its deciding rubber match next month, held a press conference in Mexico City last week with a public weigh-in.
Not only is Pacquiao-Morales III for one of the WBC’s minor trinkets, but the contract includes major punitive measures in case Morales fails to make the junior lightweight limit of 130 pounds. According to multiple reports, if Morales weighs between 130.1 and 131 pounds, he must pay Pacquiao $500,000, and the fine increases to $1 million if his weight is between 131.1 and 132 pounds. And in the case that Morales tips the scales at beyond 132 pounds, Pacquiao could take the $1 million and take the night off.
With all of this in mind, promoter Bob Arum put Morales into personal velocity training, training “designed to get an athlete into optimum shape by improving muscle and joint strength, as well as speed, stamina, balance, flexibility and power,” according to an article in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
It appears to be working. Last Friday – 29 days prior to Pacquiao-Morales III – Morales stepped on the scales for his 30-day weigh-in, checking in at 142 pounds, one pound under the required interval limit.
“Not only am I on weight, but I feel stronger than ever,” Morales told the assembled press.
Morales being on weight may be a good sign, but the question remains if years of draining his body in an unhealthy way will prevent one final drop to 130 pounds in a similar manner to how Diego Corrales’ body dried out between 139 and 142 pounds.
3. Sticking with Morales, professional wrestler Mr. Kennedy gave “El Terrible” his backing in Pacquiao-Morales III, heeling it up prior to a match last week in the Phillipines, Pacquiao’s home country, according to a report on the Pro Wrestling Insider Web site.
Kennedy must have gotten the idea from the Undertaker, whom he has recently feuded with. Last year, the Undertaker joined Pacquiao on his ring walk prior to Pacquiao’s knockout victory over Hector Velazquez.
4. Boxers Behaving Badly: The legal problems of WBO featherweight titlist Scott Harrison continued last week, when Harrison was arrested in Spain for allegedly attempting to steal a car and assaulting a police officer and another man, according to multiple overseas reports. Throughout the year, it seems as if Harrison has been unable to stay out of the news, be it due to his reported struggles with alcohol and depression or because of various criminal charges. Harrison appears to be stuck in a vicious circle, and unfortunately it may lead to him being stuck in a jail cell.
5. If this past weekend’s Golden Boy Promotions pay-per-view had already been doomed from the outset – what with advertisements mentioning Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Lazcano and Daniel Ponce De Leon but not their respective opponents – then the loss of one headliner will only diminish buy rates already expected to be rather low.
Marquez was initially to defend his interim WBO featherweight title against Jimrex Jaca, a fighter whose lone bout of note was a first-round knockout of Bobby Pacquiao five years ago. Jaca, however, was unable to get a visa allowing him into the United States, canceling the bout.
Once again, Marquez finds himself essentially anonymous, a talented boxer who has never seen the fame or fortune as fellow Mexican featherweights Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.
6. Taking Marquez’ spot in the main event was Daniel Ponce De Leon, whose past 12 months have seen him grow from a fringe titlist to a legitimate threat in the junior featherweight division. After taking a unanimous decision over Sod Looknongyangtoy to earn the vacant WBO 122-pound belt, Ponce De Leon knocked out Gerson Guerrero in two and then kayoed Looknongyangtoy with a single punch in their rematch.
On Saturday, Ponce De Leon went further with Al Seeger than he had in his last two fights but the result was still the same, with Ponce De Leon stopping Seeger in the eighth round. With the victory, Ponce De Leon should look forward to potential firefights against Israel Vazquez and Jhonny Gonzalez, as well as revenge against Celestino Caballero, who gave Ponce De Leon’s record its sole blemish in early 2005.
7. On the undercard of Ponce De Leon-Seeger, former lightweight contender Juan Lazcano took a controversial split decision over Manuel Garnica. Both men resumed their careers last year after layoffs – Lazcano returned 14 months after dropping a decision to Jose Luis Castillo, while Garnica took a six-year sabbatical following a decision loss to John John Molina.
Despite Garnica’s losing via stoppage in his first fight back, his next bout – a unanimous decision over former junior welterweight titlist Carlos Maussa – showed that he would not be just a “designated opponent” for Lazcano. And considering the crowd reaction to Lazcano-Garnica, it’s possible that the Garnica may be elevated more in defeat than Lazcano will be from his victory.
8. One day prior to the Golden Boy Promotions pay-per-view, Mike Tyson headlined a thirty-dollar PPV, commencing his supposed “World Tour” with four rounds of sparring against former sparring partner Corey Sanders. Wearing sixteen-ounce gloves but forgoing headgear, Tyson quickly floored Sanders, who wisely chose to protect his cranium. The remainder of the exhibition consisted of Tyson carrying the action while Sanders remained mostly passive, causing a cascade of boos from the crowd.
As it was an exhibition, there was no judges’ decision, but one curiosity arises: If Sanders weighed in at 335 pounds for an Oct. 14 bout against Kertson Manswell, how could the scales possibly have read his mass as 292.5 just one week later?
9. While preparing for his exhibition bout against Sanders, Tyson drew headlines with some of his usual out-of-the-norm proclamations. Among last week’s gems were Tyson proposing a four-round sparring session with female boxer Ann Wolfe, and – in what is even more of a mismatch – a possible exhibition against pop singer Tom Jones.
But the most significant news involving Tyson was his endorsement of Michael Steele, the Maryland lieutenant governor who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in this November’s general election.
“I would do anything to help Michael,” Tyson told The Washington Post last week. “I would box an exhibition for him. I would even fight again to help Mike. I would do anything.”
The connection between Tyson and Steele is Monica Turner, Tyson’s ex-wife and Steele’s half-sister.
Yet according to the Post, Steele’s campaign did not want Steele to discuss his relationship with Tyson. In an e-mail to the Post, spokesman Doug Heye merely commented, “Mike Tyson is the father of the Lt. Gov’s niece and nephew and therefore a member of his family.”
It’s a distancing from the openness Steele showed with The New York Times Magazine in a March 2006 article, when Steele said that despite Tyson’s divorce from Turner, the two Mikes are on good terms and speak occasionally. And when Tyson initially mentioned campaigning on behalf of the lieutenant governor, Steele said the help would be “welcome in a heartbeat.”
With this rare pairing of pugilism and politics for partisan purposes, will we soon see a reunion between Tyson and another man publicly supporting Steele – Don King?
10. Two questions arise from this weekend’s pay-per-view shows: Which one ended up with the least customers, and how willing will the promoters of each be in releasing their remarkably low buy rates?
